Border Czar Tom Homan Threatens New Jersey Gov With Prosecution After Comments On Housing Undocumented Migrant

Border czar Tom Homan is threatening New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy with prosecution after the Democrat suggested he was housing an undocumented migrant in his home.

Homan, who has been tasked by President Trump to deal with reinforcing border security and cracking down on unlawful immigration, vowed in Fox News' "Hannity" to "look into" the governor's comments. Murphy taunted the administration to come and "get" the sheltered migrant he suggested was staying in his home.

"I think the governor is pretty foolish saying what he said because I've gotten a hold of it. We won't let it go. We'll look into it. Then, if he's knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien, that's a violation of Title 8, United States Code 1324. I will seek prosecution or the secretary will seek protection," Homan said on the show.

"Maybe he's bluffing. If he's not, we'll deal with that," he continued.

Murphy, who is in his final year running the Garden State, made the comments during a public interview Saturday at Montclair State University with left-leaning advocacy group Blue Wave New Jersey. The event was streamed on the governor's social media.

While answering a question about transgender rights, Murphy segued into a discussion he had with First Lady Tammy Murphy about housing an immigrant. In an earlier part of the conversation, he was also asked how his administration will respond to Trump's agenda.

"This isn't a trans case, but Tammy and I were talking about— I don't want to get into too much detail, but there's someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point they are trying to get it to," Murphy said. "And we said: You know what? Let's have her live above our house, above our garage. And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her."

The governor's comments went largely unnoticed until a right-wing media outlet published a story about it. However, a source familiar with the situation told NJ.com that Murphy was talking about "someone in his circle of friends who was concerned given all that's going on," even though the person has "legal status."

The source also told the news outlet that the Democrat was simply saying he would have offered her a place at the house and the remarks were "blown out" of proportion by conservative media.

"No one's ever lived in the home," the source said.

Murphy is set to leave office next year, as elections for his position will be held on Nov. 4 of this year. But as he leaves the governorship behind, his position remains desired, with the contest to replace him being highly competitive. So far, six Democratic candidates are vying to replace Murphy in the November contest, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Congressman Josh Gottheimer.